The state says Phoenix is the only US major metro area where motorcycles are required to be tested for emissions. Arizona lawmakers are asking EPA (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) to exempt the Phoenix metro area from emissions testing requirements for motorcycles. The ADEQ (Arizona Department of Environmental Quality) petitioned to exempt motorcycles from such testing arguing that motorcycles make up only 3.5 percent of vehicles tested in the Phoenix Valley, that emissions failure rates among motorcycles are down and that when repairs are required they do little to improve air quality. EPA would need to approve an exemption before next July for it to take effect (via Phoenix Business Journal)

It wasn’t like Phoenix just went out and decided to change the law. The State has been pushed by ABATE, MMA and the Confederated Clubs to get rid of the emmission check. It’s been a long process, something over two years and it still isn’t on the books. Our folks at the Capitol in Phoenix think it will be at least another year. The wheels of government, whether State or Federal, really grind slow.